Hi, it's me.

Hello there.

If you saw my previous blog post, I had mentioned going silent for a bit here. I also mentioned that I'd come back when I felt like blogging again. I'm still not 100% certain on how often that will be, but... I'm here now, blogging, because I felt up to it again.

So, hello there.

What have you been reading? Any new books you've discovered that have completely consumed you? I love when books do that. Even though I haven't been in the mood to properly review any books I've read recently, I've still had the urge to keep reading. In fact I've sort of dubbed this summer as my unofficial Summer of Re-Reads.

It started with SUMMER SKIN by Kirsty Eagar. Y'all, this Aussie author is phenomenal! If you're a regular at my blog, then you already know my love for her writing. Since Summer Skin just published here in North America, I thought it was only fitting to celebrate that with a re-read. Next up was a visit with an old love, SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by Trish Doller. Trish is a great friend of mine (in fact, we share a love for Kirsty Eagar's writing, among many other loves, ha!) -- reading her stories bring me calm, something I can rely on when I am searching for something I know I'll need. With all the publication hype, I had to do a re-read of THE KISS QUOTIENT by Helen Hoang. I read an ARC of this one back in January and loved it immediately. The second time around? I loved it even more. If you've been seeing all the great things being said about this one, they're true! It's amazing. My latest re-read goes to WHAT I THOUGHT WAS TRUE by Huntley Fitzpatrick. This has become a summer tradition for me. Y'all, this novel is everything a summer YA contemp should be. Each time I read this story I find something new to fall in love with. It's the perfect escape I needed.

I've been reading some new stuff, too. A few of those that deserve shout outs are: SAVE THE DATE by Morgan Matson, WILD ACES series by Chanel Cleeton, and THE PROPOSAL by Jasmine Guillory. On my shelf to read very, very soon are: STAY SWEET by Siobhan Vivian, ALWAYS NEVER YOURS by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka, and NOT THE GIRLS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR by Aminah Mae Safi. I've got my eye on some upcoming releases, too: JOSH & HAZEL'S GUIDE TO NOT DATING by Christina Lauren, FIGHT OR FLIGHT by Samantha Young, and THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOST THINGS by Jessica Brody.

Books aren't the only thing that's been occupying my time now that summer has officially began. I've been watching TV, too! For the past few years, TV has dropped to the wayside. Since Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, I haven't found anything that I felt was worth sitting down and making a point to watch (except for that whole Game of Thrones binge watch I did last summer). But then, I discovered Superstore. Never has a TV show come into my life at just the right time. I started watching past episodes on Hulu back in April. The day I had to put my sweet Daisy down, I found myself in a numb blur of motions. My heart ached and I just felt... empty. I didn't want to go anywhere, or really talk to anyone. Forget trying to read something. So I turned my TV on and started watching Superstore. There was just enough in the storyline to pull me in, but not completely consume me. It was exactly what my mind needed. As the weeks went by, and I started to settle into my grief more, I continued watching it season by season. I think this is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, to be honest. The humor speaks right to me. Though I discovered it during a very difficult time in my life, it became an escape that I leaned on and then grew to love. Regardless of where you are in life, it's still a great show and worth watching.

Now that it's officially summer, I am home for the season. It's my time to refresh and relax before another school year begins in August. I just got back from my family vacation to Colorado. We went back to the same mountain resort in the Rocky Mountains that my family visited almost 30 years ago, when I was a little child. It was amazing to experience it again. So much had changed, yet so much felt familiar, too. I hadn't appreciated the scenery at 6 years old, as I do now at 36 years old. Those mountains! It is breathtaking. To say I had a nice time is an understatement. It was a vacation I know I'll hold in my memories for years to come.

So what's next? Well, in a few weeks I'll be turning 37. I've got another vacation planned to visit my best friends in Chicago, too. I know the summer will be over in a blink and I'll be back in the classroom before I know it. I'm trying to slow myself down and relax for now. It's hard not having Daisy here, though. I still find myself wanting to walk her, look for her, pet her. Those are habits that will take some time to ease.

Tell me -- what are you reading? watching? any summer plans? Even though this blog is not what I had planned, it's still here, and I'm still giving it my voice. I hope you'll stick around and listen.